Samara Heinrichs Prak

I made a big mistake yesterday and started reading some of the articles about the Coronavirus outbreaks. I'm torn between not worrying about it at all and thinking there is reason to be concerned. Of course, when I opened facebook this morning, the only thing that popped up on my newsfeed were articles on the outbreak. I have zero medical training, but I do know that there are things far more deadly than the Coronavirus. Allow me to go off on a completely different tangent before attempting to rein it all in together. I'm down at the Desert Horse Park for the circuit and of all the weird things, we've been rained out to start week VIII. I've been down in the desert when this has happened before, but to the best of my knowledge it has never happened during the last week of the circuit. And yet here we are, in this strange apocalyptic time, twiddling our thumbs hoping the rings dry out enough to compete. It seems super strange and yet, it has been the most peaceful two ...

Choice:  the act of choosing : the act of picking or deciding between two or more possibilities : the opportunity or power to choose between two or more possibilities : the opportunity or power to make a decision : a range of things that can be chosen. I'm not entirely sure why today this was the word that stuck in my head, but it's something that is a common theme in my life. Showjumping is all about choices. When we walk in the ring we can choose to  participate that day, or we can be indecisive. For those of you who don't ride, let me explain one thing: indecision is ALWAYS bad. Riding horses and hoping something will work out typically ends poorly. The odd time one will be lucky and get away with indecision, but eventually it will catch up to you.   My fiancé Phil always likes to say, "you must live with the consequences of your actions". Normally he says this with a great deal of sass, but there is major truth to it. Every action requires a choice. Ther...

I'll admit, the title may sound pretty stupid. I never grew up watching the Care Bears. To this day I can't admit to seeing even five minutes of an episode. Nor did I know there was such a thing as a Care Bear Stare until this year. Despite all of this, it would seem that my new moniker at Creekside Farms is "The Intensive Care Bear". If you know me at all, I've probably told you at least once how I've tried to avoid coaching like the plague. I've even remained fairly successful at doing so until last fall when I inherited some children to teach. It turns out I have enjoyed it far more than I expected. It would also seem that I laugh far more than a professional coach probably should. This all started when one of Linda's kids decided to describe all of the people that coach her. Kim received the "particular about details" description, while Jenn earned the "confidence builder" award. Somehow (Unsurprisingly, I suppose) I receive...